Spider-Man fans in a spin as Sony announces two new films featuring arch villains Venom and The Sinister Six
It seems studios can never get enough superheroes...or supervillains.
Sony Pictures is preparing two Amazing Spider-Man spin-offs, Venom and The Sinister Six, along with the fourth and fifth installments of the Spidey franchise, the studio announced late on Thursday evening.
Sony has hired five writers for the projects. Alex Kurtzman, Robert Orci and Jeff Pinkner will write The Amazing Spider-Man 3, which it is hoped Marc Webb will return to direct.
Web wonder: Sony is set to make two spinoff films about Spider-Man's adversaries Venom and the Sinister Six, as well as two more Web-slinger pictures
Suiting up: Andrew Garvey will reprise his role as Spidey in The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Ed Solomon will join Kurtzman and Orci on Venom, with Kurtzman directing.
Venom is one of Spider-Man's most famous villains and was previously portrayed on the big screen in 2007's Spider-Man 3 by Topher Grace.
Drew Goddard will write and direct The Sinister Six, focusing on the various villains in the Amazing Spider-Man universe.
This one has a nasty sting: Spidey fights Venom, a character created for the comic in 1982
Ganging up on him: The Sinister Six, a gathering of Spidey's arch rivals, first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual in 1964
They will work with producers Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach.
No release dates have been set for Venom and The Sinister Six, but the third and fourth editions of the Web-slinger films will open in 2016 and 2018, following the release of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, starring Andrew Garfield as Spidey, on May 2 in the US.
Sony is taking a leaf out of Marvel's book, which expanded its Avengers franchise to include Robert Downey Jr as Ironman, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Captain America, Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk and Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow.
Super gang: Sony is following in Marvel's footsteps after it expanded its Avengers franchise to include a whole galaxy of superheroes
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